Sonsbeek Procession
Grandeur
2008
Prior to the opening of the Sonsbeek exhibition, the city of Arnhem (immediately connected to the Sonsbeek Park) has it’s prelude when the works of art, bound together by the theme of Grandeur, were carried in a procession through Arnhem. Like the pageant or the demonstration, the procession is a type of parade that occurs everywhere where there are mass societies. Parades can be solemn or carnivalesque, religious or military, enchanting or threatening, but in all cases they attempt to evoke a feeling of solidarity among people. The Sonsbeek procession clearly had a symbolic significance. The works of art that reveal their own world in the intimacy of the park, were only allowed to feel at home there after having been introduced to the population of Arnhem in a stately festive procession. The city was both spectator and participant, for it was the citizens themselves, organized into guilds, who carried the works of art, through the city itself and than to the Sonsbeek park, where they were installed at that same moment.
(Anna Tilroe / Artistic Director Sonsbeek 2008)
Video compilation of Sonsbeek Procession 2008
Photo impression of Sonsbeek Procession 2008